


Step in Time

by EclecticSorcerer



Series: No Cishets in Mary Poppins (Working Title) [2]
Category: Mary Poppins (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 15:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18055214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EclecticSorcerer/pseuds/EclecticSorcerer
Summary: Jack reminisces about his past and asks Jane questions. After all, it's not every day someone from a high-class background becomes a workers' advocate.





	Step in Time

It had been many weeks since Jack and Jane had begun courting, and Jack could easily say he was enjoying every second of it. He had been nervous at first, even a little scared. Secrets were never airtight, and society wasn’t about to let him have an easy time of life. He could deal with it of course, he was well practiced in fending off whoever decided to make trouble, but this time, his anxiety wasn’t for himself. No, that was reserved for Jane. The world had never been kind to Jack, and the last thing he wanted was for her to have to face such ugliness too.

Still, Jane was nothing if not capable, and stubborn to boot. Not that Jack didn’t want to be with her anyway, quite the opposite in fact. He very much wanted to be with her. So, he was forced to push his worries aside and focus purely on enjoying their time together. It was odd to think, few things had really changed, but everything was different at the same time. They had already been living together for a while, already grown close. The only thing that was really new was the kisses. It was nice to ponder how easily they had slipped into a routine, and Jack often did so. One day, as she was making flyers, Jane caught him staring wistfully out the living room window as he thought, and asked what he was thinking about.

“Oh, you know.” Jack’s voice took on a lilting, exaggeratedly sweet tone, but the sparkle his eyes betrayed the honesty of his words. “Just how lucky I am to have gotten here from where I was. Who knew a simple leerie could end up living with one of the greatest women to ever walk the earth?”

In all their time together, Jack had learned that being comically extravagant never failed to make Jane giggle. Sure enough, when he looked over she was struggling to keep a straight face, but to no avail. It wasn’t long before her composure broke, and the room filled with the laughter Jack could listen to for ages. On top of that, Jane’s cheerful mood was infectious, and it wasn’t long before he was laughing with her.

“You’re a menace, Jack the leerie,” she said finally, after she had stopped and caught her breath. “That much flattery is going to get you everywhere and then you won’t know what in the world to do with yourself.”

Jack shrugged in mock innocence, making Jane scoff affectionately. 

“Though that does remind me, I’ve been meaning to ask- about where you were, I mean- er... How exactly did you end up working for Bert?”

Jack’s smile turned a little sad as he turned back to the window, gazing at the rising smoke curling above the city. If he focused on just the skyline, he could almost pretend he was eleven again, a letter asking for work in shakey children’s printing clutched tightly in his right hand and a slightly torn photograph of his parents hidden in the inside pocket of his shirt.

“It’s fairly simple. Not a lot of people came over from the islands in the Americas back in good ol’ 1910. Still, my family was one of the few. We settled down in Leeds and spent some time there, but money was tight. So I was sent here to see if I could make my own way.”

Jane came up behind Jack and leaned against the windowsill, resting her weight on her forearms as she watched the smoke with him. “I’d say you did pretty well for yourself then, yeah?”

Jack laughed. “Well, a lot of it was luck, and not all of that luck was good. But yeah, I did pretty alright. Came to London when I was oh, about eleven? By the time Bert found me, I had been a chimney sweep for a coupla months. It was easier for kids to get into the narrower flues.”

“How did you get into leerie work?” Jane had moved her hand to take hold of Jack’s, and was rubbing small circles into the back of it with her thumb.

“Well, being a sweep may be easier for the kids to do, but it sure isn’t kind to the lungs.” Jack grimaced, remembering the fits of coughing a lot of the older workers often had. “When Bert found out about me, he got me out real fast. Gave me a place to stay and a different job with some of his buddies.”

“That’s Bert for you. Always looking out for anyone in need. I wonder what he’s up to these days.”

They continued looking out the window for a few moments, watching the fog twist and swirl in the wind, before Jack broke the silence.

“So, how did you get into the worker’s rights business? Not exactly a popular career, not that I’m complaining.”

“Oh! It’s kind of silly really but, well. My mother was an activist for women’s voting. I didn’t entirely understand it at the time of course, but... Well, she definitely left an impression.” Jane’s voice was dripping with exasperated sarcasm, but the smirk on her face betrayed the humor behind the statement. 

“Oh?” Jack was grinning at her, thrilled at the prospects of a coming story. “An impression you say?”

Jane snorted. “Oh don’t even get me started!” she said, rolling her eyes. “Singing and parading all around the house! Done up in her Sunday best and her sash, and getting the cook and maid to join in!” Jane had left the windowsill and marched her way into the kitchen by this point, gesturing wildly as she went, and Jack was quick to follow. When he caught up to her, however, she had stopped at the counter and her shoulders were slumped, making her appear rather small. In her hands was a teacup, patterned with little yellow flowers, and she absentmindedly turned it over in her fingers as she spoke.

“It’s a little sad you know. She seemed so lively whenever she came home from a rally. Going on about how so and so got arrested this time, and how much progress they were making. That all went away whenever Father came home. She would-” Jane made a face as she tried to find the right words. “ _ Deflate _ . It was like she was a different person. The perfect, quiet and supportive wife for a prestigious member of the bank. He hated what she did.” There was a beat of silence, and Jane sighed. “At least it got better after everything with… well, you know. I only wish the same could’ve happened for the others, you know?”

Jane set the teacup down and shook her head with a sad smile. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t meant to get so dreary.” Jack didn’t answer, but instead wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side.

“Tell me more about Bert?”

“Only if you tell me about all your rally adventures.”

**Author's Note:**

> its just character building time lads, and this time a two parter!  
> i dont love how it turned out but sometimes you just gotta call it a day bc its been a week and a half and this is as good as its getting


End file.
